When it comes to Wes Craven's famous works, I generally consider Scream to be the high point of his filmography despite the widespread success of his A Nightmare on Elm Street series. To be fair, both are quite good, however the original Scream is an excellent slasher film that properly executes many of the ideas that Craven first toyed with back in the 1980s that I believe sets it apart from its slasher siblings like Friday the 13th and Halloween. When Craven passed away in 2015, I generally didn't believe another Scream film would be made, and I had considerable doubts when I heard a new one was coming out.
1Where You Can Find It: I saw this in theaters however it looks like it may also be available for streaming on Paramount+ in February 2022.
General Information
Scream (also frequently referred to as "Scream 5") is a slasher horror film that was released on 14 January 2022. It was co-directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with writing by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. Brett Jutkiewicz provided the cinematography while Brian Tyler handled scoring. Spyglass Media Group was the primary production company behind the film, while Paramount Pictures distributed. It is the fifth installment of the Scream film franchise and is the first of the series not to involve its creator: Wes Craven. As of 19 January 2022, it has accumulated a $37 million box office haul with a budget of approximately $24 million. Also as of 19 January 2022, it holds a 60 Metascore on Metacritic along with a 75% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Story
Sam Carpenter (played by Melissa Barrera) is called back to her hometown of Woodsboro when her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) is attacked in an almost identical manner as the initial killings in Woodsboro 25 years ago. A new killer (or killers) has come to Woodsboro and all of the clues point to someone in Jenna's friend circle. With the realization that Tara's attacker sought to emulate the initial killings, Sam and her boyfriend, Richie (Jack Quaid), seek out the help of Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Together the group must uncover the identity of the killer before they are consumed by the psychopath's twisted fantasies.
2Ghost Face is back, baby!
As is now standard fare for Hollywood, the plot deeply struggles with the dichotomy of reliving the past successes of the original film and forging its own path. Numerous scenes, characters, and locations are pulled straight from the original film and used here as a means of combining the old with the new; however much of it doesn't feel quite right or necessary. Legacy characters like Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) return, but they are given very little time for development as they face what is now the fifth series of killings. Dewey is arguably the only legacy character with an amount of depth; however, his connections with Gale feel rushed and fleeting.
Of course, there are plenty of new characters too, but they're about as interesting as the cast from any of the Friday the 13th films. They're mainly there to just die, which is honestly fine considering this is a slasher film. Tara is the standout of the new bunch, but this is arguably due to Tara getting a sizeable amount of screentime. Although Sam is the protagonist, much of her character lacks substance, which is only harmed by the script's forgetfulness. For example: early on, viewers learn that Sam suffers from some form of schizophrenia tied to her absentee father that requires her to take medicine in order to hold off hallucinations. Unfortunately, we really only see the hallucinations factor into one scene, which happens to be the same one where they're introduced. It never plays a significant role in the rest of the film and seems to act more as a way to squeeze in a CGI rendering of an old character.
3Sam is the protagonist...I guess?
Any Scream film worth its salt must have a decent mystery surrounding the identity (or identities) of the killer. This latest iteration kept up the tradition of keeping me guessing until the final act; but I would argue the pay-off is probably the least compelling of the franchise. Once the identity of the killer is revealed, it raised more questions about how the killer was able to pull off some of the moves executed throughout the first two acts. Additionally, I found the motive behind the murders worse than anything previously given in the other films.
Special Effects/Atmosphere
Cinematically speaking, this is a competently shot film. Ghost Face has never looked better, and I really enjoyed seeing him/her on full display while murdering some poor fool. Additionally, there was some quality lighting work that enhanced certain scenes with some of the scenes at a local hospital being a standout for me. Lastly, it's worth mentioning that I was duly impressed with the CGI recreation of Skeet Ulrich's character, Billy Loomis (I won't mention how/why he makes an appearance though). It was incredible seeing Ulrich again, and although I hated the reasoning for his presence, I was amazed to see how computer technology was able to return the now-52-year-old actor back to his 1996 version.
4Ghost Face has never looked so good
From an atmospheric level, Scream has always been incredibly meta in its use of applying film logic to real-life events. Fans of the franchise will recall the character of Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) who would frequently compare his favorite movies to what was happening to the characters around him. This latest installment does this as well, but it comes off a bit ham-fisted as its now presented as though everyone is Randy, which makes it hard to take this film seriously as everyone is too busy winking at the camera. This over-eagerness to embrace the meta is truly on full display when the film attempts to recreate one of the most brilliant scenes from the original film. The Acting
There's very little to be said about any of the acting here as it only further detracts from the poor writing of the film. Jenna Ortega effectively plays her character from You, and Dylan Minnette (who plays Wes Hicks) is hilariously essentially still playing Clay Jensen from 13 Reasons Why. They do a better job than the rest of the newcomers, but it would be interesting to see these actors spread their wings a bit.
5Dylan Minnette can't help in solving the murders because he is still too busy trying to figure out why Hannah Baker killed herself
On the legacy side of things, David Arquette feels like the only one that's really trying in this. Considering the trailers tout the return of Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox, one might think that they bring something to the table here, but alas they do not. Campbell and Cox looked bored throughout the film, and it's a shame that this lack of enthusiasm became infectious to me as a viewer.
The Best of the Best: The return of Skeet Ulrich.
The Worst of the Worst: The exceptionally bland new characters and poorly used legacy characters.
Calhooey Score: 5/10 - Average
Would I Recommend?
6
Just let the answering machine get it
The latest installment of the Scream franchise is filled with good intentions but it's mediocre at best. There's a decent mystery here with some quality special effects, but the milquetoast acting, and lack of character investment prevents it from reaching the heights of the original. Fans of the franchise should see it at some point, but it might be worth waiting on until it's available for streaming. For everyone else, I would recommend renting this at some point when its price goes down (once it's released).
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------
- Did I miss something, or do we just never actually see Tara or Sam's mom in this film? She's alive, right?
- You'd think someone would call Tara's mom when her child is stabbed to the point of being wheelchair-bound at a hospital. Maybe she was on a bender?
- When did Billy Loomis have time to impregnate Sam's mom? Wasn't he spending most of his time with Sidney back in the 1990s?
- I honestly thought Amber might be related to Stu since she so clearly wants to recreate his character from the first film.
- Where was Sheriff Hicks going to get Chinese food that was so far away? Isn't Woodsboro a small, suburban town? Is she very particular about her Chinese food? Does she go out of state for it?
- That was touching that they named a character Wes.
- We all know Wes didn't die by the hands of Ghost Face though. It was the ghost of Bryce Walker from 13 Reasons Why! Up to his old tricks again, I see...
- The reference to Rian Johnson made me laugh.
- So, you're telling me that Amber (who arguably weighs around 110 lbs.) was able to recover from two close-range gunshot wounds to the chest (I'm aware of the body armor), and then murdered Dewey while lifting him off the ground when she impaled him? I've heard the "crazy strong" argument before, but I think we're entering the realm of nonsense.
- I was wrong! I honestly thought the Meeks twins were the killers. They were taking the killings so trivially that it was the only thing that made sense.
- That scene of Sidney shooting closed doors cracked me up. It'd be funny to see how Amber would've reacted to Richie getting wasted while hiding in the closet because her aim went a little higher.
----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(1) Scream. (2022). Scream film image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11245972/.
(2) Dry, J. (2022, January 12). Ghost Face image. IndieWire. Retrieved from: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/01/scream-review-ghostface-1234689950/.
(3) Klein, B. (2022, January 20). Sam Carpenter image. ScreenRant. Retrieved from: https://screenrant.com/scream-5-ghostface-identity-alternate-endings-revealed/.
(4) Hassenger, J. (2022, January 14). Ghost Face in headlights image. Polygon. Retrieved from: https://www.polygon.com/22884536/scream-5-spoiler-ending-post-credits.
(5) Chichizola, C. (2021, October 26). Dylan Minnette in Scream image. Cinema Blend. Retrieved from: https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/screams-dylan-minnette-compares-the-new-sequel-to-wes-cravens-original.
(6) Nelson, J. (2022, January 12). Ghost Face trying to break in image. Showbiz CheatSheet. Retrieved from: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/scream-everything-need-know-wes-cravens-original-series-before-seeing-scream-5.html/.
Comments
Post a Comment